David Packard was born in Pueblo, Colorado, and attended Centennial High School, where early on he showed an interest in science, engineering, sports, and leadership.[2] He earned his B.A. from Stanford University in 1934, where he earned letters in football and basketball and attained membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was a Brother of the Alpha Delta Phi Literary Society.[3] Stanford is where he met two people who were important to his life: Lucile Salter and William R. “Bill” Hewlett.[4] Packard then briefly attended the University of Colorado before he left to work for the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York. In 1938, he returned to Stanford from New York, where he earned a master’s degree inElectrical Engineering in 1938.[4] In the same year, he married Lucile Salter, with whom he had four children: David, Nancy, Susan, and Julie. Lucile Packard died in 1987.

n 1939, Packard and Hewlett established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packard’s garage with an initial capital investment of $538.[2][4] Packard mentions in his book The HP Way that the name Hewlett-Packard was determined by the flip of a coin: HP, rather than PH.[4][5] Their first product was a soundoscillator sold to Walt Disney Studios for use on the soundtrack of Fantasia.[4] The HP Way describes HP’s management philosophy, which encourages creativity and shuns traditional business hierarchy and formality.[6] During World War II HP produced radio, sonar, radar, nautical, andaviation devices.[6]

The company, where Packard proved to be an expert administrator and Hewlett provided many technical innovations,[4] grew into the world’s largest producer of electronic testing and measurement devices. It also became a major producer of calculators, computers, and laser and ink jet printers.

HP incorporated in 1947, with Packard becoming its first president, serving in that role until 1964; he was then elected Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, holding these positions through 1968.[7] He left HP in 1969 to serve in the Nixon administration until 1971, at which time he returned to HP and was re-elected Chairman of the Board, serving from 1972 to 1993. In 1991, Packard oversaw a major reorganization at HP.[6] He retired from HP in 1993. At the time of his death in 1996, Packard’s stake in the company was worth more than $1 billion.